Sacrifices
by petalsarefallingxoxo
Summary: NatsumeSeries Contest: As he meets up with an old friend at a dance club, his past comes tumbling out. “Oh that’s cool, man. Guess what? I dared Koko to eat a block of butter for 20 bucks and he did! Wait… Whoa! WHAT! The house is on fire!”


**Sacrifices  
_By Petalsarefallingxoxo_**

_**Notes:** I was already logged into this account for some reason… I don't even know, so I thought that I might as well as post on using this penname. Good luck to everyone else who is writing for this contest because all of the entries so far are stunningly amazing. I'd like to thank Yuna and Cindy for holding the contest. And also Alyssa and Janica (she supported me from day one woo!) for supporting me and listening to my babble. Oh and of course my friends who are constantly online and have to listen to me for hours straight when I'm blocked on what to write next. ( : _

* * *

Sultry. Her hips rotated seductively as she gestured her hands according to the lyrics. The dress she wore that hugged her delicate curves, sashayed with her movements. Her cheeks were faintly pink under the dim lighting of the dance club. All I could do was smirk as I watched her from my stance by the bar. I took another shot of tequila. Closing my eyes, the strong pulse of the music mixed in with the buzz of the alcohol. Soon, I'd have to join in the dancing. My target wouldn't be hanging here for much longer.

I waited for the song to change before I joined the floor. Once it did, I nimbly made my way over to the dancing lady. Between the dry humping, grinding, and giggling girls throwing themselves at me made my movement sluggish. I felt hips grinding on me and I glanced at the girls coldly and roughly pushed them away. My hand made its way to my head and pushed locks of my dark hair out of my face. Dance clubs weren't my thing. Between the sweat and dirty dancing, it all made me cringe.

Two paces away from her and I could almost taste the victory. She danced like no tomorrow and kept her gaze glued to the floor. She made no notion of knowing that I was there. On instinct, I checked if I had the right equipment underneath my clothing before I got too close to the lady. Strapped to my calf, was a knife. The agency that I worked for wanted this woman off of the world's existence and that was my job to take care of. My place in the agency was to go undercover and kill. So I'm basically a secret agent of sorts.

I slinked close to her body and wrapped my right arm around her waist. She didn't flinch. She didn't give much reaction as if she were immune to the male population wanting her. I smirked to myself; I wanted her for different purposes. She moved her hips and I followed her lead. I dragged my left arm to accompany the other on her waist. As the people in the club pushed us closer, there was not even a millimeter of space between the two of us. And that's how we stayed for the rest of the song.

My arms relaxed and dropped to my sides as the song ended with the coda. She turned around. I met her infuriated eyes with my cool crimson ones. My mind screamed long time no see, but my mouth stayed shut, numb from looking at her again. The agency had no idea of our past together, but I thought I could handle this moment. But I couldn't. Not once I saw the judgment in her eyes.

"You bastard," she growled between gritted teeth and before I could react… Her foot connected to my pelvic region and caused excruciating pain. I wanted to curl up into a ball from the pain. The mental pain of having to see her again and her judging me from what I've done in the past... Or the lack of action I took. The physical pain that she caused me once we met again after two years. I didn't blame her when she kicked my balls.

No one paid attention to me as everyone was around and about dancing and finding a mate for a one-night stand. I watched the girl walk away from me, swinging her butt from side to side. I shook my head, the woman never used to be like this. She used to be so sweet, so… Not menacing. She never had radiated sexual appeal or a bitchy vibe.

Her stop was at the bar, where I was before. I grimaced from the pain and limped my way to the girl. I had to finish the job by tonight and her hatred for me made it almost too easy. A chilly glare from her told me that our connections from before were cut and I didn't feel guilty. At least, I shouldn't feel guilty. But why do I?

She leaned against a stool; her eyes trained on me like a hawk. I gave her my traditional smirk from our orphanage days, "Nonoko."

"Hyuuga," she glared at me as she sipped some more of her drink. I could only guess that she was having vodka after glancing at the clear substance.

"So Nono---" I shortly got cut off.

What she was about to say, I knew would haunt me for the rest of my life like that one moment in my life. In a venomous tone, she hissed, "Cut the bullshit, Hyuuga. I always knew you were a coward ever since that day, but dancing around the reason why you are here and trying to make small talk isn't going anywhere. You don't care what goes on with my life…with everyone else's. So don't even bother about asking what I have been up to. Just go straight to the point."

"I want to amend the things I've done," I lied through my teeth. Hopefully she wouldn't notice that my real intentions were to kill her before the night was over.

She stared coldly into my eyes and asked, "Why now? Why not two years ago before you ran away from _home_?"

"Nowhere is home without Mikan Sakura."

_There I said it. Are you happy? Are you happy that you just opened my deepest wound, Nonoko? Are proud that this is the first time I've said Mikan's name for the past two years? _

I watched her register what I've said with the slightest crack in my voice. Her eyes softened by a fracture of a degree and she whispered in a hurt tone, "But why did you leave _us_, Natsume? When she passed away, no one was the same. Everyone was looking for you to lean on. You were always the strong one, Hyuuga. We needed guidance, but no one was there to lead."

I clenched my fist and snarled, "And all of you expect me to pick up the pieces?! That I was going to be perfectly fine after I was the cause of her death?!"

It wasn't fair. I was the oldest out of the seven us and I was always expected to take responsibility. Maybe if they lost the one true love of their lives, they would've understood how I felt at the time. To this day even. Maybe they would've understood why I broke all connections with them and ran away from anything and anyone who reminded me of her.

I glared at her and I regretted my words…the roughness in my tone. Her eyes were glistening with tears and I felt so guilty. Seeing her almost cry was heartbreaking, it was like watching your little sister that you love getting hurt. Mikan, Ruka, Hotaru, Surmire, Nonoko, and Koko were the people that made up the family that I never had. I cared for all of them; though I would never dare to speak out loud. Despite that, they knew it even if it was unspoken.

"No," she whispered, "But we were a family and family sticks together… Remember? But you ditched us, Natsume. You left us in OUR time of need."

"What about MY time of need?!" I barked.

Nonoko collected herself and drew in a shaky breath, "We would've been there for you, but you dejected our help. Then you dejected OUR plea of help."

"But you don't understand," I growled at her, "You didn't know how it feels to—"

"Yes," she clipped her opinion in before I got to finish my sentence, "Yes I goddamn know how it felt to be standing there, watching her die and not being able to do anything. In fact, we all do, Natsume."

I wanted to scream at her that I was different. I wanted to scream that they all didn't love her half as much as I did. And the worst bit of it was the fact that I wasn't able to tell her that I loved her. They didn't know how it hurt to live with the regret of knowing that YOU were the cause of her death. Yes, I have admitted it, I, Natsume Hyuuga, was the reason why Mikan Sakura died.

"But I killed her Nonoko," I persisted in a cold voice that I used to mask my hurt.

She glanced at me and replied, "Natsume. GET A GRIP. None of us killed her; she sacrificed her own self so the rest of us can live. And besides, if it was anyone's fault…it would've been mine, not yours."

"But I was last in the house with her… I could've stopped her," I muttered as I ran my hand threw my hair, "You didn't know any better, Nonoko. What you did was an accident, I just let it happen…"

* * *

June 17th at 3:45 PM. Mikan and I were sitting on the couch in the living room that was deserted, as everyone wanted to give us privacy. She was snuggled up against my chest and my left arm was wrapped around the curve of her waist as my right hand stroked her beautiful auburn hair. She gazed up at me with her big innocent hazel eyes and smiled.

"What are you smiling at, idiot?" I asked with a hint of annoyance, but my tone didn't fit what I felt inside. I felt so warm and fuzzy on the inside from being just in her presence. Even before that moment, I knew that she was the one I wanted to spend my life with.

She giggled and replied, "At how amazing our family is."

"Oh? And not your boyfriend?" I asked with a raided eyebrow.

"Well, I'd say that, but the compliment might made your ego swell up 10 times bigger and we don't need that."

I chuckled before leaning in and kissing her.

"Everyone hit the floor!" Nonoko's scream echoed through the household that I bought short after my eighteenth birthday the second when Mikan and I broke apart for air. Not only did I live in the house, but also Ruka, Hotaru, Mikan, Koko, Surmire, and Nonoko. The orphanage that we all once lived in was a torture place for us and we made a pact to leave after the first one of us hit eighteen… Which happened to be me.

Mikan and I gave each other quizzical looks, but nonetheless, I pushed her to the floor. My legs and arms caged her against the ground. I grinned at her mischievously and she just giggled. Mikan propped herself on her elbow and touched her lips against my temple. She whispered, "I love you Natsume."

"Random…"

"You don't love me back?" she gazed at me.

"Of course I do, baka."

"Is saying those three words that difficult, Natsume?" she pouted with a twinkle in her eyes. She honestly at no idea how much it was for me. Showing my affection for her was hard and I devoted my life to her... Imagine how it felt like if I wanted to show that I care to the other people who lived in my house.

I couldn't respond back because an explosion boomed in our household. My eyes closed automatically, but after I was sure that it was "safe" I opened them again. All I saw was smoke. Just smoke everywhere I would turn. I could barely see two inches from my face, but I located Mikan from under me by her coughing.

"C'mon," I said gruffly, knowing that the door was a couple of meters from our position.

She coughed and spoke defiantly, "Natsume. I'm not leaving until I know that everyone in this house is safe, okay? You go outside, call the fire station and then call Ruka and Koko to tell them about what is happening."

"I'm not leaving you in here, Mikan," I gritted my teeth. The girl thought that I was a sissy and couldn't help out. God, she's so stupid. There is NO way that I would leave her alone in the house so she can play scavenger hunt and find everyone else. Hotaru and Surmire would be able to make it out fine, I'm sure. Hotaru is smart and Surmire is cunning. But then again, you would never really know… That left Nonoko who was probably the cause of the explosion (she screamed beforehand, so what else am I supposed to think?) and there was NO WAY I was going to let Mikan go up to Nonoko's room.

"No you are going to call the fire department and then Ruka and Koko," she growled at me in her most menacing voice, which honestly wasn't all that threatening.

When I stubbornly refused she pouted and asked, "Please Natsume? Family comes first. When everything and everyone is safe, come back for me. Until then, you better get the hell off of me and get outside."

I rolled my eyes, but she DID have a point. I had to save as many people as possible along with making sure that the house won't completely burn to the ground… No matter how much I wanted to just selfishly save her. I crawled my way off of her and headed for the door. As soon as I got the door open, I bolted out. I stood in front of the hours that I bought. You couldn't tell that our house had an explosion. Only if you look closely, then you would see the billows of smoke rising unnaturally.

Swiftly, I took out my phone and dialed the emergency number for a fire and told them the dilemma. They said for us to wait. I snorted sarcastically to myself, what the hell are we supposed to do? Have a picnic, like really. After I hung up on them, I pressed 2 for the speed dial of Ruka's.

_**Ring.**_

_**Ring.**_

_**Ring.**_

_C'mon pick up Ruka!_

As if he heard my thought, I heard, "Hello?"

"Yo, Ruka."

"Hey what's up?"

Mocking his relaxation and lack of concern seeing that I usually never call Ruka unless it was an emergency, I replied, "Oh nothing much. Mikan and I kissed in the living room. Oh and by the way, the house is on fire from an explosion that Nonoko caused from experimenting with her chemicals."

"Oh that's cool, man. Guess what? I dared Koko to eat a block of butter for 20 bucks and he did! Wait… Whoa! WHAT?! The house is on fire?!"

"Just a little," I bit out sarcastically.

"Koko! We're going back home!" I heard Ruka yell at Koko as he rapidly muttered his good-byes to me. I raised my eyebrow when Ruka said that. Why the hell would that idiot want to go back to a house that was burning down? Say a few last nice words before the house completely gets destroyed?

* * *

"Natsume… Natsume!" Nonoko snapped her fingers in front of my face, trying to break memory lane for me. She was rather successful though with what she was trying to do.

"Yeah?" I responded in the most collected voice I could get out without betraying that I was confused on why she was trying to talk to me.

"I've got to get going home. Ruka, Hotaru, Koko, and Surmire, and I are having game night," she glanced at me, "Want to come with me? You'd balance out the teams."

"I'm going to pass," I replied chillingly, "I'd probably cause a disturbance to your lives."

Nonoko shook her head, "No. Natsume, you cause a disturbance to our lives when you left. You can always come back to us, to your family."

"I'll pass."

I looked at her hurt expression and quickly amended, "Maybe next time, okay?"

She nodded and I offered to walk her to her car, which she accepted. Along the way, she and I talked and laughed together. We resurfaced the memories of our life back before Mikan's death. Although it was slightly painful, we tried to cover it with shaky chuckles, which erupted into laughter. Well, Nonoko did the laughing. I just snickered or smirked.

"Remember when Koko told a perverted joke at lunch time during eighth grade?" Nonoko happily chattered.

"And Surmire laughed out loud at it, but Mikan was like… I don't get it?"

"And Hotaru drew a diagram of how two people had sex using stick figures because she gave up on explaining sex to Mikan using her hands. Then it took the whole freaking lunch period just to get the joke through her thick skull," Nonoko continued on laughing.

"What about the time Ruka told a joke?" I asked her.

"Oh yeah! And he started laughing hysterically and we were like…. What? And he said: Don't you get it?! And everyone is like: no… Then he said: Wait… Oh never mind, I don't get it either," she cracked up with another round of laughter.

Nonoko started the next memory as she spoke up, "And what about when we were in math class? The teacher called on Koko asking for ½ as a decimal? And Koko was like: It's 50%."

"Oh and the teacher was like: what?! Koko was all confident and was like: It's 50%!" I chuckled at the memory. Koko had to get tutored after school that day by the math teacher. And I'll tell you: that math teacher was sure scary. Okay, he wasn't in my opinion, but everyone attending our middle school feared Jinno (a.k.a the math teacher). I stopped short and gazed up at the tree a meter away from Nonoko's car. The lady standing next to me ceased her laughter and looked up also.

She didn't see the silhouette that I saw. She didn't know that I was supposed to kill her as a job from the government. She didn't know that the person up in the tree was my backup in case I chickened out and didn't kill Nonoko.

I debated if I should kill her then or leave it to the back up. How much did I care for Nonoko? I gazed at her and I already knew the answer. My final decision was made as I smirked at Nonoko who gazed back at me with confusion.

* * *

"Nonoko just left the house," Mikan looked at me, giving me a tired smile. She was leaning against the doorframe, slightly panting between her coughs. The stupid idiot shouldn't be staying in the house if she knew that she had asthma.

I nodded, I saw her on my way back to Mikan, "I saw. Now it's your turn to leave the house, Mikan. You have your health that you are risking, so come with me."

She obliged, taking my hand, I led her out by taking the route that I used to get to the place where I found her. My eyes were watering from the fumes of the smoke and I sniffling, trying to muffle out my coughing. We were twenty steps away from exiting the house, twenty steps from making it out alive, and twenty steps before we can celebrate our victory of surviving.

But between those twenty steps was a hazardous trap that we were unaware about. In the middle of our 15th step, one of the support beams of our house gave out. Mikan, who was more alert about this than me, pushed me out of the way and took the blow.

She screamed in pain as I turned around and knelt besides her. I didn't give much shit about what was going around me. Or if the house was on fire and we were going to pass out from the fumes. All I knew was that Mikan was hurt and had no way to escaped.

"Get out," she yelled at me, "Get out of this damn house, Natsume!"

"No," I replied simply, which just ignited her anger. Opps, wrong move. My bad.

"You are getting out of this house whether you like it or not," she growled at me and I shook my head.

I looked at her; passion filled my eyes, "Mikan. I'm not going to leave you behind. If you die, I'm going to die with you. You aren't going to be alone because I'm never going to let that happen."

"Cute," she grumbled, "You can't be this romantic on any other day. Nope, you choose it RIGHT ON MY DEATH BED!"

"Hn."

I felt a tug on my arm and found a person decked out in a firefighter suit and he spoke to me in a gravelly tone, "You have to get out of here son."

"No," I said vehemently. The firefighter didn't listen to any protest or complaint of mine and just told me that his back ups were going to take care of Mikan. Bullshit, I told him. Curses streamed out of my word and I got a bad feeling that was confirmed after I was safely out of the house.

In Nonoko's room, another explosion went off because some of the chemicals in the beakers mixed. We never found out how, but that's how Mikan Sakura died. She died saving me and Nonoko and possibly Hotaru and Surmire. She would've survived if she hadn't pushed me out of the way.

"MIKAN!" I heard all the females in my house scream, including Hotaru, but I was too numb to join in. They were sobbing hysterically, but I couldn't even react. All I knew was that she was dead. And that was all that mattered to me.

_That selfless idiot._

* * *

As soon as I heard the gun shot, I jumped in front of Nonoko and shoved her out of the way. I gritted my teeth, "Start the car, Nonoko and get the hell out of here. Go as fast as you can and run your ass off to get inside of the house that you're going to be in for game's night."

Without a complaint from her, the engine of the car started and I felt Nonoko's concerned gaze on my back, but I knew she was going to leave nonetheless. She wasn't like Mikan who would question a selfless act and refuse to take a sacrifice made by someone else. The person, who happened to be my backup, jumped off from the tree and walked up to me.

Faintly with the streetlights, he made out to be my boss… Persona. His black hair glistened from the streetlights; his attire was barely seen from the fact that it was all black. A growl rumbled from my chest and he chuckled. He knew that I hated him. Standing two feet away from me, he clucked his tongue, "I'm sad to say that this was a test run on how keen your loyalties are to the agency. And you have failed. You've fallen from the ranks of our agency. So good-bye, Natsume."

With a cruel, sadistic grin, he brought up his gun and aimed for me. I sagged my shoulders in defeat; I wasn't going to run away from the hands of death. With the boom of the gunshot, I knew that I was going to join my love in heaven.

_**Sacrifices are made for the greater cause of a greater war being fought.**_


End file.
